BASKETBALL; The N.B.A. Expands Its Game And Makes a House Call to Japan

There is something about Allen Iverson, the Philadelphia 76ers guard, that gets Tadashi Togashi and his friends going. They like Iverson's up-tempo style, and how he finds a way to score even though he is often the shortest man on the court. It does not hurt that his team is a perennial playoff contender in the National Basketball Association.

But more than anything, it is Iverson's style -- his hair, his clothes, his jewelry -- that inspires them.

''He's just so cool,'' said Togashi, a 19-year-old college student who wears baggy denim pants and a silver chain around his neck. Togashi even has a ring emblazoned with the initials W.W.J.D., ''What Would Jesus Do?'', because, he said, Iverson wears one like it.

The affection the Japanese have for Iverson and other stars, some might call it an affectation, is more proof that the N.B.A. is not so much a sport as an attitude and a brand in Japan. Although basketball is widely played in schools here, Japan has no professional league to spur interest. Baseball, soccer, sumo wrestling and even golf are far more popular. Yet to younger Japanese, a growing number of whom travel overseas, the N.B.A. speaks an entirely different language: the intangible code of style.

The Japanese are some of the biggest buyers of N.B.A. merchandise outside the United States, readily paying 8,500 yen ($75) for team jerseys, 3,800 yen ($35) for hats and 15,800 yen ($145) for satin jackets. Visits by N.B.A. teams, who have played regulation games here five times from 1990 to 1999, do much to generate interest, too.

Even without games in Japan in recent years, though, the N.B.A. brand has grown here. That is a testament to the sport's reach via television, global advertising campaigns and music videos. Dozens of magazines devoted to the sport have sprung up, including Hoop, Dunk, Shoot and Basketball Magazine Clinic. Some publications, like Woofin', feature hip-hop music and the latest street fashions from New York and Los Angeles.

Thanks to this media machine, sales of N.B.A. goods in Japan have tripled since 2000. Those sales will get another boost when the Seattle SuperSonics and the Los Angeles Clippers open their seasons here on Thursday.

The oddity is that the bulk of those people who buy the gear, including Togashi and his friends, seldom play basketball or follow the games on television. Like many imported fashions in Japan, the clothing is stripped of its original political or social meaning and worn only for appearance. People hanging out in trendy Tokyo neighborhoods like Shibuya and Harajuku mimic United States fashions down to the tiniest details and spend hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars on N.B.A. paraphernalia.

''The N.B.A. is for young culture, so the N.B.A. became the culture for young people in Japan,'' Hideki Hayashi, managing director of N.B.A. Japan Inc., said. ''These kids don't know so much about the N.B.A., but they think the N.B.A. is a cool brand.''

This fashion mania aside, there are plenty of fans who admire the N.B.A. for its speed, precision and athleticism. Takeo Cho, a 23-year-old university student, played basketball in high school for three years after becoming interested in the sport through the popular comic book series Slam Dunk. He still reads several basketball magazines and has Kobe Bryant and Scottie Pippen jerseys and an Iverson T-shirt. ''The games are speedy and fun to watch,'' Cho said. ''There are no star players or great teams in Japan. The N.B.A. is the best in the world.''

Although most high school gymnasiums must accommodate badminton, volleyball and other sports all at once, participation in basketball is growing. According to the Japan Basketball Association, 592,191 people played on registered teams in Japan last year, 18.5 percent more than in 2000, when statistics were first compiled.

There is even a Japan Basketball League, which includes company teams owned by Isuzu Motors, Matsushita Electric Industrial and other industrial powerhouses. When basketball's popularity peaked, around the time the Dream Team won the gold medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, there was talk of turning the J.B.L. into a professional league. The tough economy and saturated advertising market, however, dampened those expectations, according to Eiji Takase, an editor at Basketball Magazine Clinic.

By the time the J.B.L. started its Super League, the Japanese economy was already stagnant, he said, so hopes for a professional basketball league have disappeared as the advertisers pulled out.

Though basketball has little hope of having a professional league anytime soon here, there remain pockets of devoted fans who happily pay 18,000 yen ($165) for an N.B.A. League pass to watch more than 200 games on cable television in Japan. And thousands more are expected to turn out this week to see the N.B.A. live, a rare treat for die-hard fans.

''I can see the players' superhuman abilities more frequently and clearly than in other sports,'' Teruoki Aoyagi, who runs a Web site for Clippers fans in Japan, said. ''The level of entertainment is higher because of the players' super techniques.''